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Connecting today’s news with the research & opinion you need.

Way Too Many Legs

What to Know: Overbroad federal protections for a tiny Texas spider are unconstitutional, groups including TPPF are arguing before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The TPPF Take: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has used the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution to justify its regulations; but there’s nothing commercial about the spider in question.

“The Bone Cave Harvestman lives solely in isolated caves in central Texas,” says TPPF’s Chance Weldon. “It is not bought or traded in interstate commerce and has no substantial effect on interstate commerce. Likewise, the spiders are not a fungible good, the regulation of which is necessary to regulate an interstate market. Accordingly, neither the Commerce Clause nor the Necessary and Proper Clause grants Congress the authority to regulate them.”

Come Celebrate With Us

What to Know: HUD Secretary Ben Carson will give the keynote address at TPPF’s 30th Anniversary Gala on Oct. 5.

The TPPF Take: It will be a night to remember.

“We are thrilled to have Secretary Carson help us celebrate our 30th Anniversary,” says TPPF’s Kevin Roberts. “Texas Public Policy Foundation believes deeply in the power of individual liberty to preserve opportunities for every American.”

The Wrong Prescription

What to Know: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s new bill regarding prescription medication prices would curtail innovation and access to necessary treatments.

The TPPF Take: The “Lower Drug Costs Now Act” (HR 3) focuses its ire at the pharmaceutical manufacturers with no regard for the middlemen who have driven up prices.

“The bill speaks to negotiation and the use of an international pricing index by HHS but the government does not negotiate, it mandates,” says TPPF’s David Balat. “Price fixing and pricing caps have done more to inflate costs in healthcare than to help patients achieve more affordability."